Month: November 2017

A shy beautiful young girl with a limp and a love for glass figurines is set up to try and find love by her mother. The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams is a beautiful “memory play” as described by one of the characters. Loretto did a superb job when it came to the set and how the actors portrayed their characters.

One can not begin to describe this play without mentioning the set. The stage was set up to resemble an apartment in 1937 with wallpaper covering the walls to actually make it a realistic home. There were antique lamps and radios that the characters interacted with and knick-knacks spread about that brought the play to life. They set was wonderfully put together. When the set was first revealed there was an audible gasp as the audience saw how beautiful the stage was. The little St. Louis apartment was simply gorgeous and succeeded in sweeping the audience into the humble life of Laura Wingfield.

Laura Wingfield played by Deane Sophia Aoun captured the character’s innocence and desire to just stay in her head and go about life not bothering anybody. Her character was a unicorn among horses. Her sweet southern charm being her horn. Bella Noe who portrayed Amanda Wingfield, who is the mother of Laura and Tom, was simply superb. She knew how to turn a mistake into a humorous event so that you couldn’t tell that it was improvised. Accidently spilling lemonade at one point and Bella’s improversation was so seamless that one could not tell she was improvising, and as a result one of the funniest lines in the play was born. She was someone who was able to take the pressure of performing and like a true actor let the show go on without skipping a beat.

The narrator of the story, Tom Wingfield, as played by Mario Gonzales, guided us through his memory and he recalled the events that happened throughout the play. The way Mr. Gonzalez described the scenes almost reminded me of Tobey Maguire in his performance of Nick Carraway in the The Great Gatsby. Once the young actor started narrating it was hard not to listen to the beautiful words he was reciting.

Loretto did quite an amazing job in this production.

by Emma Arms of Pebble Hills High School

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The Glass Menagerie

Loretto Academy’s performance of The Glass Menagerie revolves around the story of a family struggling financially with everyone hoping for a successful resolution. Although there were only four people in the entire cast they were able to tell a beautiful story of how everyone in the household is struggling through their own life along with everyone else. The actors involved in the play told a beautiful story and had the audience in a roller coaster of emotions towards the second act.

Although the energy was not quite there in the first act it simply made a dramatic increase towards the second act with the entrance of Jim O’Connor portrayed by Damian Alonso. Jim entered with a new presence compared to everyone and brought a comedic energy to the atmosphere in which the other cast was able to interact with. He was able to play such a character that expressed a deep love with Laura Wingfield, played by Deane Sophia Aoun, in one simple conversation that led to a romantic yet awful climax. Damian as portrayed by Jim O’Connor brought amazement to the stage that everyone in the room could feel.

Damian wasn’t the only one who was able to deliver an amazing performance, Amanda Wingfield, played by Bella Noe, also did an amazing job for The Glass Menagerie. With set pieces falling Bella was able to improvise flawlessly and made the whole audience roar with laughter. It was clear to see what kind of mother Bella was portraying during the play. She made marvelous facial expressions and overall brought a joyous energy throughout the play. Deane Sophie Aoun, did an amazing job portraying the innocent daughter and sister who always wanted something more in life. She was able to show her love for her glass menagerie and broke the audience’s heart at times when she was in her worst moments. Deane had wonderful energy with Damian and was able to play off one of the most climatic scenes in the whole play seamlessly. She reminded the audience that although everyone is different they all have a heart and during the performance Deane showed what Laura’s heart was like on inside an
d what it was like to be a woman “with a slight defect” during that time.

Tom Wingfield, played by Mario Gonzalez, was the main character in The Glass Menagerie and he was able to show the audience the world through his eyes and the importance of “going to the movies.” Mario showed the importance of doing something meaningful in life or else one may simply end up going to the movies to have a sense of adventure in life. With a breathtaking scenery of a beautifully decorated home and street in the very front of the stage it really gave a beautiful touch to the whole scene.

Cappies

The El Paso Cappies Blog is here to provide information about high school theater in El Paso. We will be providing reviews of shows past and previews of shows to come. Most of our content will be student generated.